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| Keywords: Egyptian - Iret-horru with Osiris - Walters 22215 - Back.jpg In ancient Egypt political upheavals accompanied by changes in religious practices were often an occasion for innovations in private sculpture This was especially evident in the early 18th Dynasty when new statue types representing the donor holding a naos or a sistrum among other objects came into use for the first time The representation of a donor depicted standing seated kneeling or squatting proffering the figure of a deity or a sacred object ensured the donor's eternal participation in the rituals undertaken in the gods' presence Representations of the ritual interaction between men and gods were even more highly sought when the high priests of Amun seized power in Thebes during in the 21st Dynasty and ruled the country's south From this point onward over a period of several centuries statues depicting the donor squatting or holding the image of a god were almost the only statue types dedicated in extraordinary numbers in the temple of Amun at Karnak The vast extent of these dedications was attested early in the 20th century when the French architect Georges Legrain discovered a cache of nearly eight hundred stone statues and seventeen thousand bronzes as well as other artifacts buried in the courtyard of the temple of Amun in front of the 7th pylon The standing figure of the priest Iret-horru was one of these statues-the largest Egyptian statue hoard ever recorded-ritually buried by temple priests in the Ptolemaic period to relieve the crowding of more than two thousand years of private offerings Iret-horru holds the mummified figure of Osiris the god of the netherworld outfitted in his traditional regalia the tall Atef-crown and crook and flail The priest himself wears a wide wig with narrow striations and ankle-length pleated garment with a prominent trapezoidal apron The frontal view exhibits a prominent collarbone and an articulated sternum Despite its awkward proportions the arms in particular are clumsily rendered the statue has a majestic appearance Statues of donors bearing figures of Osiris were among the most popular types of private statuary in the Late Period; this example was dedicated to Iret-horru by his son Necho who also served as a priest in Karnak ca 595 BC Late Period graywacke cm 56 16 accession number 22 215 6796 Sale Egyptian Museum Cairo JE 37890 Dikran Kelekian New York and Paris Henry Walters city Baltimore Walters Art Museum Henry Walters Acquired by Henry Walters 1911 In the Fullness of Time Masterpieces of Egyptian Art from American Collections Hallie Ford Museum of Art Willamette University Salem; Boise Museum of Art Boise 2002-2003 place of origin Egypt Walters Art Museum license Ancient Egyptian statues in the Walters Art Museum Statues of the 21st dynasty of Egypt Statues from Karnak temple complex Ancient Egyptian priests Ancient Egyptian art made from greywacke | ||||
